Editing Animal testing (section)

===Rodents===
{{main|Animal testing on rodents}}
{{see also|Median lethal dose}}
[[File:Sleep-deprivation-flowerpot-technique-jepoirrier.jpg|thumb|This rat is being deprived of rapid eye-movement (REM) sleep using a [[Flowerpot technique|single platform ("flower pot") technique]]. The water is within 1&nbsp;cm of the small flower pot bottom platform where the rat sits. The rat is able to sleep but at the onset of REM sleep muscle tone is lost and the rat would either fall into the water only to clamber back to the pot to avoid drowning, or its [[nose]] would become submerged into the water [[Acute stress reaction|shocking]] it back to an awakened state.]]In the U.S., the numbers of rats and mice used is estimated to be from 11 million<ref name=USDA2016 /> to between 20 and 100 million a year.<ref name="Trull">{{cite journal|last1=Trull|first1=F. L.|year=1999|title=More Regulation of Rodents|journal=Science|volume=284|issue=5419|page=1463|bibcode=1999Sci...284.1463T|doi=10.1126/science.284.5419.1463|pmid=10383321|s2cid=10122407}}</ref> Other rodents commonly used are guinea pigs, hamsters, and gerbils. Mice are the most commonly used vertebrate species because of their size, low cost, ease of handling, and fast reproduction rate.<ref name=Rosenthal>{{cite journal |vauthors=Rosenthal N, Brown S | title = The mouse ascending: perspectives for human-disease models | journal = Nature Cell Biology | volume = 9 | issue = 9 | pages = 993–99 | year = 2007 | pmid = 17762889 | doi = 10.1038/ncb437 | s2cid = 4472227 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Mukerjee|first1=M|title=Speaking for the Animals|journal=Scientific American|date=August 2004|volume=291|issue=2|pages=96–97|doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0804-96|bibcode=2004SciAm.291b..96M}}</ref> Mice are widely considered to be the best model of [[Genetic disorder|inherited human disease]] and share 95% of their [[gene]]s with humans.<ref name=Rosenthal/> With the advent of [[genetic engineering]] technology, genetically modified mice can be generated to order and can provide models for a range of human diseases.<ref name=Rosenthal/> Rats are also widely used for physiology, toxicology and cancer research, but genetic manipulation is much harder in rats than in mice, which limits the use of these rodents in basic science.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Aitman TJ, Critser JK, Cuppen E, Dominiczak A, Fernandez-Suarez XM, Flint J, Gauguier D, Geurts AM, Gould M, Harris PC, Holmdahl R, Hubner N, Izsvák Z, Jacob HJ, Kuramoto T, Kwitek AE, Marrone A, Mashimo T, Moreno C, Mullins J, Mullins L, Olsson T, Pravenec M, Riley L, Saar K, Serikawa T, Shull JD, Szpirer C, Twigger SN, Voigt B, Worley K | title = Progress and prospects in rat genetics: a community view | journal = Nature Genetics | volume = 40 | issue = 5 | pages = 516–22 | year = 2008 | pmid = 18443588 | doi = 10.1038/ng.147 | s2cid = 22522876 }}</ref>